OHS COMMUNICATION PROCEDURE

May 2017

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. PURPOSE ................................................................................................................................................2
2. SCOPE .....................................................................................................................................................2
3. ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................................................................2
4. DEFINITIONS ...........................................................................................................................................2
4.1 COMMUNICATION .............................................................................................................................................. 2
4.2 AUDIENCE ........................................................................................................................................................ 2
4.3 SAFETY PERSONNEL ......................................................................................................................................... 2

5. SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES ..............................................................................................................2

5.1 HEADS OF ACADEMIC/ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS ....................................................................................................... 2
5.2 SUPERVISORS .................................................................................................................................................. 2
5.3 INDIVIDUALS (STAFF MEMBERS, STUDENTS, CONTRACTORS, VISITORS) ................................................................... 3
5.4 MONASH OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY (OH&S) ............................................................................................. 3

6. OHS COMMUNICATION PROCEDURE .................................................................................................3

6.1 ACCESSING OHS INFORMATION ......................................................................................................................... 3
6.2 DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION ....................................................................................................................... 3
6.3 OHS POLICY ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
6.4 OHS NOTICE BOARDS ........................................................................................................................................ 3
6.5 OHS CONSULTANTS’ REPORT/NEWSLETTER.......................................................................................................... 4
6.6 OHS DOCUMENTS ............................................................................................................................................. 4
6.7 OHS INDUCTION AND TRAINING ........................................................................................................................... 4
6.8 EMERGENCY INFORMATION ................................................................................................................................ 4
6.9 OHS COMMITTEE ............................................................................................................................................... 5

7. OTHER METHODS OF OHS COMMUNICATION ..................................................................................5

7.1 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS VIA EMAIL ........................................................................................................... 5
7.2 HAZARD AND INCIDENT REPORTING ..................................................................................................................... 5

8. FEEDBACK TO OH&S ............................................................................................................................5

9. TOOLS .....................................................................................................................................................5
10. RECORDS ................................................................................................................................................5
10.1 OHS RECORDS RETENTION ...................................................................................................................... 5
11. COMPLIANCE .........................................................................................................................................6
12. REFERENCES .........................................................................................................................................6
12.1 AUSTRALIAN STANDARDS ................................................................................................................................... 6
12.2 MONASH UNIVERSITY OHS DOCUMENTS ............................................................................................................... 6

13. DOCUMENT HISTORY ............................................................................................................................6

OHS Communication Procedure, v2 Responsible Officer: Manager, OH&S Page 1 of 6

Date of first issue: June 2014 Date of last review: May 2017 Date of next review: 2020
09/05/17
For the latest version of this document please go to: http://www.monash.edu.au/ohs/
1. PURPOSE
The purpose of this procedure is to define the Monash University process for communicating
relevant OHS information to staff, students, visitors and contractors.

2. SCOPE
This procedure applies to staff, students, visitors and contractors of Monash University.

3. ABBREVIATIONS
OHS Occupational health and safety
OH&S Monash Occupational Health & Safety Unit

4. DEFINITIONS
A comprehensive list of definitions is provided in the Definitions Tool. Definitions specific to this
procedure are provided below.

4.1 COMMUNICATION

Communication is the process by which information is transmitted and understood between two or
more people.

4.2 AUDIENCE

People or a group or people whom a communication is aimed. This may include staff, students,
visitors, contractors, external organisations and the general community.

4.3 SAFETY PERSONNEL

Individuals in the University who have been elected or appointed to specific safety roles. These
include health and safety representatives, safety officers, biosafety officers, radiation safety
officers, laser safety officers, first aid personnel and emergency wardens.

5. SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES
A comprehensive list of OHS responsibilities is provided in the document OHS Roles, Committees
and Responsibilities Procedure. A summary of responsibilities with respect to OHS communication
is provided below.

5.1 HEADS OF ACADEMIC/ADMINISTRATIVE UNITS

Heads of Academic and Administrative Units are responsible to ensure:

• Provisions for the communication and dissemination of OHS information are available
and appropriate for the applicable audience;
• Local communication methods and the timeframes for dissemination are suitable for
the type and significance of the information to be conveyed;
• Communication methodologies detailed in the OHS Communication plan are annually
reviewed to validate and ensure their effectiveness;
• That there is effective communication and information exchange to the relevant
stakeholders when consulting on matters that affect, or are likely to affect, their health
and safety in accordance with the OHS Consultation Procedure. Consideration must be
made for people whose language is not English and for different levels of individual
literacy.

5.2 SUPERVISORS

Supervisors are responsible to ensure they, and their applicable staff and/or students adhere to the
requirements of this procedure.

OHS Communication Procedure, v2 Responsible Officer: Manager, OH&S Page 2 of 6

Date of first issue: June 2014 Date of last review: May 2017 Date of next review: 2020
09/05/17
For the latest version of this document please go to: http://www.monash.edu.au/ohs/
 5.3 INDIVIDUALS (STAFF MEMBERS, STUDENTS, CONTRACTORS, VISITORS)

Individuals have a responsibility to comply with any safety instructions communicated to them. This
may include information posted on safety notice boards, safe work instructions, verbal instruction,
safety signs, email communications, communicated at meetings or disseminated in meeting
minutes.

Individuals should also report to their supervisor or safety officer if they have difficulty
understanding health and safety communications received.

5.4 MONASH OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY (OH&S)

The Manager of OH&S is responsible for:

• The development and review of the OHS Communication procedure, associated OHS
Communication guidelines and tools;
• Interpreting health and safety information and dissemination of relevant information to
the University. This includes OHS legislation, University OHS policy, procedures,
guidance, OHS Alerts.

6. OHS COMMUNICATION PROCEDURE

6.1 ACCESSING OHS INFORMATION

OHS Information can be accessed from:

• OHS policies, procedures, guidance notes, emergency information, online databases
(S.A.R.A.H., Chemwatch, etc.), via the OHS website;
• Administrative Unit/ Division websites containing specific local OHS information;
• Discussions with supervisors, safety personnel, peers, OHS committee members;
• Contacting the Occupational Health and Safety Unit directly or via the OHS helpline;
• Attending meetings;
• Reading communications received containing safety information;
• Reading safety signage posted in on the campus grounds and within buildings;
• Completing OHS induction and training sessions relevant to your roles;

6.2 DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION

OHS Information is disseminated by the OHS Committees, OH&S, managers and supervisors,
safety personnel and individuals with competency to provide induction, instruction or training.

OHS mandatory information to be disseminated and methods of OHS Communication are as

follows:

6.3 OHS POLICY

Monash University’s OHS Policy and OHS Issue Resolution Procedure must be communicated to
staff and students via:
• OH&S website; and
• Local OHS notice boards.

6.4 OHS NOTICE BOARDS

The following information must be communicated via OHS noticeboards:

• Names and contact details of the Designated Work Groups elected Health & Safety
representatives and/or the area Safety Officer/s;
• Names and contact details of First Aiders;
• OHS Policy;
• OHS Issue Resolution Procedures; and
• “If you are injured at work” poster noting the contact details of Monash University
WorkSafe agent.

OHS Communication Procedure, v2 Responsible Officer: Manager, OH&S Page 3 of 6

Date of first issue: June 2014 Date of last review: May 2017 Date of next review: 2020
09/05/17
For the latest version of this document please go to: http://www.monash.edu.au/ohs/
 An example ‘OHS Contact List’ template is provided in Section 9, ‘Tools’ to assist with displaying
the contact details of relevant safety staff..

Additional OHS information relevant to the local area (such as the contact details of the areas OHS
Consultant/Advisor, specific safety standing orders, etc.) may be displayed on OHS notice boards.
The information displayed should be checked for currency and updated on a periodic basis to
ensure accuracy of information.

6.5 OHS CONSULTANTS’ REPORT/NEWSLETTER

OH&S must communicate relevant information to the Monash University community. The OHS
Consultants’ report/newsletter must be updated/issued at least quarterly, or when information
changes.
Some examples of relevant information include:
• Changes to OHS legislation;
• Changes to Monash University OHS Management System;
• Available services such as:
• Counselling services;
• Return to work; and
• OHS training.

6.6 OHS DOCUMENTS

All new documents produced by OH&S must be communicated to all staff via:
• An email to Safety Officers, Health & Safety Representatives and OHS committee
chairpersons;
• Local OHS committees via the Consultants’ report;
• The OH&S web site.

Major reviews of existing documents must be communicated to all staff via:

• An email to Safety Officers, Health & Safety Representatives and OHS committee
chairpersons; and
• The document history in the document appendix; and/or
• Local OHS committees; and/or
• The OH&S web site.

Minor reviews to existing documents do not need to be communicated to all staff.

6.7 OHS INDUCTION AND TRAINING

OHS information is also provided through the provision of induction and training. The requirements
are outlined in the OHS Induction and Training Procedure.

6.8 EMERGENCY INFORMATION

Emergency Information must be communicated in a timely manner in the most appropriate method
available and may include the following:
• Mobile phone or landline;
• Warden Intercommunication “red” Phones (WIP) or via the emergency speaker;
• 2 way radio or UHF communication devices;
• Audible and visual alarms (fire alarm, gas detector alarms);
• Remote area communication devices such as Emergency Position Indicating Radio
Beacon (EPIRB).

Emergency Information, such as Building Evacuation Reports must be completed by the building
Warden and/or Floor Warden and a copy provided to the local OHS Committee and submitted to
OH&S.

OHS Communication Procedure, v2 Responsible Officer: Manager, OH&S Page 4 of 6

Date of first issue: June 2014 Date of last review: May 2017 Date of next review: 2020
09/05/17
For the latest version of this document please go to: http://www.monash.edu.au/ohs/
 6.9 OHS COMMITTEE

Before each OHS committee meeting, notice of the next meeting must be circulated to the staff
and students in the area, requesting agenda items for discussion. Items submitted must be
included on the agenda of the next meeting and the proposer invited to the meeting for discussion
of the item. Minutes of meetings must be kept and made accessible to all staff, either on notice
boards or electronically.

OHS committee meeting minutes must be:

• Only accessible to Monash staff when posted on web sites;
• Sent to the area’s OHS Consultant/Advisor as soon as possible after the meeting.

7. OTHER METHODS OF OHS COMMUNICATION

The following OHS information and methods of communication should be used, as determined
appropriate to the needs of the organisational unit:

7.1 ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS VIA EMAIL

Health and safety information should be circulated via email or posted on websites at:
• University level;
• Faculty/divisional level; and/or
• Academic/administrative unit level.

Emails and websites can be used to:

• Publicise new OHS policies and procedures and programs;
• Consult the University community during the development of OHS policies and
procedures;
• Ask for feedback; and
• Alert the University community or the members of a particular academic/administrative
unit to OHS hazards.

7.2 HAZARD AND INCIDENT REPORTING

Hazard and Incident information and statistics are communicated via the Occupational Health and
Safety Progress Reports, formulated and disseminated by OH&S. These reports provide an
overview of reported incidents and hazards and are shared at OHS committee meetings.

8. FEEDBACK TO OH&S
OH&S should record feedback received from staff, students and external parties. This feedback
should be assessed and if applicable, used to implement prompt initiatives to facilitate a safe and
healthy workplace and generate continual improvement of the OHS Management System. For
additional information, refer to the OHS Consultation Procedure.

9. TOOLS
The following tools are associated with this procedure:

OHS Contact List Template

10. RECORDS
10.1 OHS RECORDS RETENTION
For OHS Records document retention please refer to:
Monash University OHS Records Management Procedure

OHS Communication Procedure, v2 Responsible Officer: Manager, OH&S Page 5 of 6

Date of first issue: June 2014 Date of last review: May 2017 Date of next review: 2020
09/05/17
For the latest version of this document please go to: http://www.monash.edu.au/ohs/
11. COMPLIANCE
This procedure is written to meet the requirements of:

Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004

12. REFERENCES
12.1 AUSTRALIAN STANDARDS

• AS/NZS 4801:2001 Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems –

specifications with guidance for use
• OHSAS 18001:2007 Occupational Health & Safety Management Systems –
requirements.

12.2 MONASH UNIVERSITY OHS DOCUMENTS

OHS Policy
OHS Roles, Committees and Responsibilities Procedure
Health and Safety Issue Resolution Procedure
OHS Consultation Procedure
Emergency Procedures
OHS Induction and Training Procedure

13. DOCUMENT HISTORY

Version Date of Issue Changes made to document

number
1 June 2014 OHS Communication Procedure, v1
1.1 July 2015 1. Updated hyperlinks throughout to new OH&S website.
2 May2017 1. Updated Scope to align with OHS procedure documents
2. Added ‘Monash OH&S Unit’ to ‘Section 3 –
Abbreviations’;
3. Included additional definitions for audience,
communication and safety personnel under ‘Section 4 –
Definitions’;
4. Modified and included additional information in the
responsibilities for stakeholders listed in ‘Section 5 –
Specific Responsibilities’;
5. Modified and included additional information reflecting
the mechanisms employed by Monash University when
communicating safety, noted in ‘Section 6 – OHS
Communications Procedure’;
6. Added ‘Section 7 – Other Methods of OHS
Communication’;
7. Added ‘Section 8 – Feedback to OH&S’;
8. Revised ‘Section 9 – Tools’, including the reference to
the OHS Contacts list template;
9. Included additional references in ‘Section 11 –
Compliance’;
10. Updated and checked all hyperlinks throughout the
document;

OHS Communication Procedure, v2 Responsible Officer: Manager, OH&S Page 6 of 6

Date of first issue: June 2014 Date of last review: May 2017 Date of next review: 2020
09/05/17
For the latest version of this document please go to: http://www.monash.edu.au/ohs/